GARY SHUMWAY for Summit County Council

By Gary Shumway, CCP,MA,MPH,MBA

I am defining a wasted vote to be a vote that does not ultimately produce the
desired outcome for which the vote was cast. Your candidate/issue my not win
but your vote would not necessarily be wasted if it ultimately achieves the
purpose for which you cast it. Alternately, if your vote achieves the opposite
of your desired outcome then it is a wasted vote, or worse.

Politics is a special case, i.e., what you get is not always what you think
you are getting or promised. We must be sure for what we are casting our vote.
That is, if you vote for a Republican candidate simply because you have always
voted Republican without researching the issues then that is potentially a wasted
vote. I say potentially because you might get lucky and the candidate might
actually be what YOU think a Republican should be.

I think it is generally agreed that both major parties have fairly large tents.
That is, they try to be as inclusive as possible, at least at election time,
in order to gain your vote and to help block third-party candidates from winning.
Thus one major party politician may hold widely divergent positions from their
same party colleague. This makes it extremely critical to explore the positions
of the candidates to insure that your vote is being cast for the outcome you
desire, or it will be a wasted vote. The point is, you have to vote for the
person and their works/beliefs NOT just their talk or their party's platform.

Defining Third-Party: In the U.S., a third-party can be defined as any
party other than Republican or Democrat. The third-party candidates running
for president in 2004 were members of the Independent/Reform Party, Libertarian
Party, Constitution Party, and Green Party. The last time I looked in wikipedia.org,
there were some 66 third-parties listed.

Third-Party History: It is interesting to note that the origin (1854)
of the Republican Party was as a third-party when the Whig Party was dying.
Additionally, Theodore Roosevelt energized the Bull Moose Party to advance a
progressive agenda in the early 1900s. More recently, at the presidential level,
in 1980, John Anderson ran as an Independent and received 5.7 million votes
(7%), in 1992, Ross Perot ran as an Independent and won 19.7 million votes (19%)
(trying again in 1996 he received 8 million votes (8%)), in 2000, Ralph Nader
ran as a Green Party candidate and received some 3 million votes (3%) but obtained
less than 1% in 2004. Of course other third-party candidates have run for president
but they all have received less than 1% of the national vote.

At the national level, it is extremely difficult for third-parties to get traction
yet they are making headway in local and state races. Following the 2002 elections,
more than 300 Libertarians held elected state and local offices. In 2005 at
least 222 Greens held office. Twelve Libertarians have previously been elected
to state legislatures. In 2002, third-parties had members in the state legislatures
of Maine, Vermont, Alaska, and New York.

Avoid Wasting Your Vote

The following are a few of the ways to avoid wasting your vote.

Every Political Party Changes Over Time, So Should Your Vote: Realize that
any political party changes over time. The bulk of the Republicans do not hold
the same beliefs or enact legislation that the bulk of the Republicans would
in the past. Same with the Democrats. If you blindly vote for ANY political
party simply because you have always voted that way in the past, then in my
opinion, that there is a good chance that your vote will be wasted, i.e., the
ultimate outcome will not be what you intended.

You Must Vote for the Person, Not Just the Party. There is no doubt that there
are some Republicans that vote like Republicans used to and the same with Democrats.
But you must be sure that the person for which you are voting, votes the way
you believe best represents you. Voting for a person just because they have
an R or D or L or C after their name does not tell you their voting record or
platform. Avoid wasting your vote, know your candidates!

Do Not Cast a Hope-Vote: A sure fire way to waste your vote is voting
for a party or person because you hope they will change. Voting for a person
or party in hopes that they will change in the direction you desire just encourages
them to continue down the path they were going. After the elections, do you
not hear all sorts of talk of receiving a mandate from the voters, even when
they just barely win? How do you think they ever hear that you are unhappy with
their representation if you vote for them and then they call it a mandate? Actually
voting for them just increases the speed with which they proceed in the direction
they were going, not your direction. A hope-vote is a wasted vote.

Vote Record, Not Talk: If the candidate has a voting record which is
not what they are telling you and you vote based on their talk vs. their record,
then the more divergent the two are, the more your vote is wasted.

Vote!: Sometimes a candidate runs unopposed. If you were really opposed
to their winning you could cast your vote for a write-in candidate or less optimally,
abstain from voting. I believe that voting for a write-in is always preferable
to not voting as it sends a stronger message to the 'unopposed' candidate, particularly
if you have numerous voters writing in the same person. In my opinion, not voting
does not send as strong a message as an actual vote. If you do not vote, then
your vote is essentially wasted.

Do Not Vote for the Lesser of Two 'Evils': How is the candidate going
to get the message that you are unhappy with their representation if you continually
vote for them and they continue doing what you do not like? Rewarding someone
for doing what you do not want them to do is, frankly, nuts. Of course the Republicans
and Democrats want you to vote for the lesser of two 'evils' because one of
them continues in power. Do not fall into that trap. If you vote for the lesser
of two evils then you have wasted your vote because that is not the outcome
you desired, regardless of how onerous the other candidate is or how critical
the party says it is to stop the other person (when won't they say that?) Do
not ever expect a candidate to believe you are unhappy with their representation
if you continue to vote for them. To not waste your vote you must either vote
for a third-party candidate, if one is available and they more approximate your
beliefs, or you should vote for a write-in candidate. Again, I believe you should
not waste your vote by not voting, unless that is your only other option.

Your Vote

Disclaimer: First, being honest here, using the above definition of
wasted vote, your voting for me would indeed be wasted if you believed, after
carefully examining the issues, the candidates, and their trustworthiness that
one of the other candidates more approximated what you wanted and/or they passed
your issues litmus test(s) better than I. Of course, I would appreciate your
vote, but don't expect me to legislate differently than what I state in my campaign
materials. Of course it is critical to understand that that works the other
way too, that is, if you agree most with my platform but vote someone else then
your vote is wasted!

Vote for Me and I'll Vote for You: If my platform most approximates
your beliefs but you vote for a Republican or Democrat just because you think
I cannot win, then in my opinion, your vote is wasted. I can not represent your
values and desires unless you vote for me. Not voting when my platform most
approximates your beliefs is a wasted vote. Why would you vote for someone else
(which I've shown won't change anything), when your beliefs are best represented
by my platform? What is more likely to happen by your voting for the lesser
of two 'evils' is that the major parties will continue doing what they have
been doing. You will continue to loose freedom and pay for their largess. Additionally,
you discourage other liberty motivated people of good conscious from running
(it does take a lot of time and money!) because they cannot get you to vote
for them. How are things ever going to change? Of course, this is what the Republicans
and Democrats are banking on.

Protest Vote: If you are really fed-up with the two major parties, then
use your vote for me as a protest vote. Voting for a Democrat simply because
you do not want a Republican in, and visa versa does not change the power structure.
One of the two major parties remains dominant. You could also do a write-in
as a protest vote but I obviously do not believe that to be as strong a protest
vote as voting for me and my platform, i.e., you are voting for something and
someone that can win and thus represent you.

Send a Message: You want to send a message to the Republicans and Democrats.
This is similar to the protest vote above but it is not a protest as much as
a repudiation of their shenanigans and an affirmation of your beliefs via my
platform.

Culpable Deniability: You vote for me due to culpable deniability. That
is, heaven forbid that either the Democrat or Republican should win and you
voted for me, then you could proudly place the "Don't blame me, I voted
for Shumway" sticker on your bumper. Yes, in a sense it is a protest vote
that covers your back.

One last thought. If you are registered as, or consider yourself to be, a Republican
or a Democrat or a Libertarian or an Independent or any other party ... I am
not asking you to change parties, just your vote.

Vote Shumway for Summit County Council!